Comments Off on Soldier On Trauma-Informed Care Working Group
Last year, Soldier On formed a partnership with The National Center on Family Homelessness (NCFH) at American Institutes for Research to begin the process of adopting Trauma-Informed Care (TIC) at Soldier On. Since the partnership began, we have held two trainings for staff on TIC. We have also formed the Soldier On TIC Working Group to help facilitate further training and guide implementation of TIC practices in the women’s program and beyond. Members of the working group include:
Kevin Cahill, Director of Clinical Services
Cindy Nolan-Liston, Women’s Program Supervisor
Virginia Leiblein, Director of Wellness
Kayla Solomon, Women’s Program Therapist
Catherine A. Doherty, Women’s Program Consultant; Director of Soldier On Training Institute
We look forward to providing you with monthly updates on our progress. If you have any questions or feedback please contact Katie Doherty at kdoherty@wesoldieron.org.
Melody Albert grew up in Brooklyn, NY. She joined the Army in November of 1999 and after three years of service was honorably discharged to Atlanta. It was in Atlanta that Melody got married and gave birth to her daughter. Melody lived here with her family for fourteen years before moving back to Brooklyn. Her marriage ended in divorce and she lost her house due to a foreclosure and she and her daughter moved back to Brooklyn to stay with family. Melody heard of the Soldier On Supportive Service for Veteran Families (SSVF) program through a friend and relocated to Schenectady. While staying with her friend in a van in Schenectady, Melody called Soldier On for assistance. Soldier On case manager Geoff Raiti met Melody at her friend’s house and enrolled her and her daughter in the SSVF program. Geoff and Melody created a housing stability plan together and Melody began looking for an apartment. Geoff worked closely with the VA and VSO in the area to connect her with other community services that she was eligible for.
Melody posted an ad on Craigslist saying that she was looking for a place to rent. The landlord contacted her and she and Geoff went to look at the apartment in Ballston Spa. The two bedroom apartment was perfect for her and her daughter. Geoff was able to work with the landlord to assist Melody so that they were able to move in and Melody began looking for a job. Soldier On was also able to assist Melody to furnish her new apartment with furniture that was donated by a hotel in the Albany area.
Melody worked closely with Soldier On’s Homeless Veteran Reintegration Program (HVRP), the VA in Saratoga, and the Saratoga County Veteran Service Officer (VSO) to find a job. She was assessed and enrolled into HVRP by Soldier On job developer, Michael Brinck. She was hired into a full time position at Angio Dynamics in Glens Falls where she is still working today.
Melody explains her transition as “a little rough but it’s a blessing. I’m happy.”
Geoff and Mike continue to call Melody periodically to check in on her and her daughter and their new puppy, Platinum. Melody appreciates the follow up, “I’m not just another number or another vet.” Melody and her family are safe, comfortable and happy. She has a job and her family has a home.
Comments Off on Soldier On Receives $500,000 to Support Housing in Chicopee
The Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston presented Soldier On and partners O’Connell Development Group Inc. with a $500,000 direct subsidy for our Gordon H. Mansfield Veterans Village project in Chicopee, MA. The Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston awarded more than $20 million in grants and rate subsidies to fund 42 initiatives in the 2013 Affordable Housing Program (AHP). The awards will create or preserve 935 rental and 58 ownership units for very low-, low-, and moderate-income individuals and families.
Soldier On and O’Connell Development Group Inc. will work together to develop 43 of those 935 rental units funded by the AHP. The Veterans Village will be located in a newly renovated Chapin School in the Willimansett section of Chicopee. This Village is modeled after the 39 unit Gordon H. Mansfield Veterans Village in Pittsfield, MA which has been successfully operating as a limited equity cooperative since 2010. The Veterans Village in Chicopee will bring Soldier On one step closer to changing the end of the story for homeless veterans.
We’re super excited to let you know that we’re part of the Honoring Those Who Serve Challenge. The Challenge is a fundraising campaign being launched by Newman’s Own Foundation. The Foundation is proud to continue Paul Newman’s commitment to help the military community – those who have given so much of themselves, who now face critical needs.
To give back, Newman’s Own Foundation will be donating $180,000 to organizations like ours focused on empowering military personnel, veterans and their families. <br.
The charity that raises the most throughout the Challenge will get a $75,000 donation from Newman’s Own Foundation. Second place gets $50,000 and third gets $25,000. We’re out to raise as much money as possible for our cause so we can win that $75,000 grand prize donation.
We think we can win and to do so, we definitely need your help. We’ll be sending emails throughout the Challenge and we’ll be asking for you to give. Every donation makes a difference, no matter how small.
To help now, please Click Here and give whatever you can.
Or, if you want to go one step further, Go Hereand click ‘Create Your Fundraiser.’ In seconds, you’ll have your own fundraiser that you can share with all of your family and friends so that you can raise money for our cause too.
Please email CrowdRise at NOF@CrowdRise.com if you have any questions at all and they’ll help solve everything.
After a stint in a Massachusetts county jail and a longer sentence in state prison, it was time for George Sylvia to listen to some good advice.
George, a native of New Bedford, Mass. who served in the Marine Corps from 1977 to 1981, had become addicted to prescription medication while undergoing a yearlong trial dental procedure during his first year of military service.
By the time of his honorable discharge, after serving in such faraway locations as Japan, Korea and the Caribbean, his addiction to the medication had become completely unmanageable. After his discharge at Camp Pendleton, George became immersed in the Southern California drug culture. His addiction remained with him for 19 years, though he said he held full-time employment as a “functioning” addict for the first 10 years.
As his life became completely dysfunctional and he was diagnosed with depression due to the extreme drug abuse, George was incarcerated twice upon his return to his native Massachusetts. He was sentenced to a year in the Bristol County Jail in Dartmouth for Class A drug distribution, then received a second sentence of 5 years and 8 months in the Massachusetts state prison system for distribution of narcotics to support his growing addiction.
It was during his final year of incarceration that George attended a presentation by Soldier On Outreach Coordinator Willie Ledbetter, himself a former homeless veteran who had served prison time following the path of drugs and crime.
“Willie’s testimony about sitting in a graveyard lost in his addiction with no place to turn connected with me,” George said. “I knew that if I left prison without the support that I needed to rebuild my life, I probably would not get another chance, considering how extreme my addiction had become. Soldier On was a valuable resource to enter the workforce and community again.”
Inspired by Willie’s testimony, George arrived at Soldier On in Leeds, Mass., three days after his release from prison. Ten days later, he transferred to the Soldier On transitional living facility in Pittsfield, Mass. There, he found work through a temporary employment agency, and earned the Employee of the Month Award while working for Interprint, Inc. That company then hired him full time, and he remained employed there for 22 months until he was offered a position with Soldier On to be part of the management team overseeing day-to-day operations. He held that position for about four years, then became the Soldier On Employment Coordinator and Veterans Skills Development Center Manager in Pittsfield. In this position, he is responsible for finding employment for veterans and developing employment opportunities in the community.
At 53, George has settled into his position at Soldier On, and resides at the Soldier On Gordon Mansfield Veterans Community, a first-of-its-kind, limited equity permanent housing cooperative for formerly homeless veterans. He has become active in the Pittsfield community over the past seven years, and says he was honored by the opportunity to serve on advisory councils for the Red Cross and Elder Services of Berkshire County.
He has also enjoyed “12 years of sobriety thanks to the support and encouragement of the Soldier On community and the management here,” George said. He has been given the opportunity to rebuild relationships with his family and the community where he resides, and serves on the Board of Directors of the Gordon Mansfield Veterans Community with fellow veterans.
“Soldier On,” Sylvia said, “has proven to be a life changing experience and opportunity for myself and many other veterans who take the chance to learn to participate in life again.”
Comments Off on Soldier On receives $12,757,000 in SSVF grants
Soldier On, an organization that is dedicated to serving homeless veterans, was awarded $12,757,000 in Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) grants last week to serve veterans in 36 counties in eastern upstate and central New York, 36 counties in central New Jersey, 23 counties in western Pennsylvania, 5 counties in western Massachusetts and over 70 counties in Mississippi. Since Soldier On was awarded their first SSVF grant in October 2011, the organization has served 2,245 homeless and at-risk veterans, spouses and children throughout New York and New Jersey.
The grants, which will be operational starting October 2013, give Soldier On the funding to serve approximately 3,500 participant households throughout these five states.
These awards are among nearly $300 million Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) grants targeted to provide housing stability for approximately 120,000 homeless and at-risk veterans and their families. The grants, going to 319 community agencies in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, were announced today by Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki.
“With these grants, we are strengthening our partnership with community non-profits across the country to provide Veterans and their families with hope, a home, and a future,” said Shinseki. “The work of Supportive Services for Veteran Families program grantees has already helped us prevent and end homelessness among tens of thousands of homeless Veterans and their families, but as long as a single Veteran lives on our streets, we have work to do.”
“We are very grateful to the VA for creating a program that identifies underserved veterans and allows us to respond immediately to the crises in their lives,” said Soldier On President and CEO John Downing. “The Supportive Services for Veteran Families program allows us to intervene and stabilize veterans and their family members in the living situation that they are now in so that they don’t have to face the difficulties of homelessness.”
The SSVF funds enable the grantees to provide supportive services for veterans including outreach in the community and with their local V.A., case management services, assistance with obtaining V.A. benefits and other services. This includes help in obtaining health care services, financial planning services, transportation, fiduciary and payee services, legal services and housing counseling. The grant may also provide temporary financial assistance for rent, security and utility deposits, utility fees, moving costs, child care, emergency supplies and transportation.
Veterans seeking to enroll in the program should call Soldier On at 1-866-406-8449.
Comments Off on Soldier On receives $150,000 grant from the Home Depot Foundation
Leeds, MA ─ Soldier On has been awarded a $150,000 grant from The Home Depot Foundation. This funding is part of the $80 million pledge that The Home Depot Foundation has taken to go towards veterans’ housing needs.
“The Home Depot Foundation is committed to ensuring that every veteran has a safe place to call home,” said Kelly Caffarelli, President of The Home Depot Foundation. “We are proud to work with Soldier On as part of our efforts to give back to those men and women who have so bravely served our country.”
Soldier On is dedicated to providing housing and supportive services to homeless veterans. The $150,000 grant from The Home Depot Foundation will go towards the new Gordon H. Mansfield Veterans Community that is being built on the Veterans Administration campus in Leeds. This limited-equity cooperative will consist of 44 permanent housing units for formerly homeless veterans. The community, modeled after the 39 units of permanent housing built by Soldier On in 2010, represents the final step in the fight against veteran homelessness.
“Soldier On will continue to ‘change the end of the story’ for homeless veterans with the assistance of organizations who are committed to the mission of making sure every veteran has the opportunity to live his or her life to their highest level of potential,” said John Downing, President and CEO of Soldier On. “We are very grateful that The Home Depot Foundation has been able to extend its generosity and thoughtfulness to the particular veterans that Soldier On serves.”
The Home Depot Foundation is committed to assisting veterans and their families that face major challenges, including housing, unemployment or disabilities. This grant reflects the pledge that the foundation has taken help ensure that all veterans have a safe place to call home. The Home Depot Foundation has committed $80 million over the next five years to this effort.
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Soldier On provides safe affordable housing to homeless veterans, including permanent limited-equity ownership units at the Gordon H. Mansfield Veterans Community in Pittsfield, MA. The Mansfield Community serves as a national model as Soldier On actively seeks to extend its successful veterans’ programs to communities throughout the United States.
About The Home Depot Foundation
The Home Depot Foundation is dedicated to improving the homes of U.S. military veterans through financial and volunteer resources to help nonprofit organizations. The Foundation has committed $80 million to these efforts over five years.
Through Team Depot, the company’s associate-led volunteer program, thousands of Home Depot associates volunteer their time and talents to positively transform neighborhoods and perform basic repairs and modifications to homes and facilities serving veterans with critical housing needs.
Since its formation in 2002, The Home Depot Foundation has granted more than $340 million to nonprofit organizations improving homes and lives in local communities. To learn more and see our associates in action, visit www.homedepotfoundation.org.
Comments Off on Women vets navigate benefits, PTSD, homelessness
BOSTON (WWLP) – When Fannie Houck was discharged from the navy in 1976, she survived a sexual assault and a helicopter incident that left her disabled and emotionally scarred.
“My PTSD just took over my life and I became homeless,” said Houck.
She applied for help at the Veterans Affairs Department, but navigating the maze of benefits and programs is difficult.
“In 1977, I tried to get services and was told you didn’t have programs like that for women… You reach out for help you don’t get the help… And I feel this is often where suicides come from.”
A 2010 Portland State University study found that women veterans were three times as likely as civilians to commit suicide. This is partly why women veterans are kicking off their first State House Advocacy Day – To talk about issues facing women vets and provide a place for them to organize and seek help.
“Our goal is to help reach out to the women who are still seeking services, looking for women leaders to direct them,” said Dna. Maria St. Catherine McConnell, the commissioner of the Boston Commission on Women Veterans.
Fannie eventually found shelter at the Veteran Affairs Medical Center in Leeds and is now on a path to emotional and physical recovery through the Soldier On women’s program. Still, Fannie admits it’s difficult for women vets to seek help.
“The types of personalities that we as women have…We’re the ones who will sign that piece of paper and say that we’ll die for you,” said Fannie. “It’s that same kind of mentality that keeps us from going to keep up the fight getting help for ourselves.”
Women vets say it’s important for their peers to fight together – Their next major meeting is the Massachusetts Conference for Women Veterans at Boston’s UMass campus Saturday.
